2030: A Data Odyssey
It’s a random morning, in 2030. The head designer’s avatar, powered by the latest large language model, has been sifting through all global and local fashion collections, across any brand, plus all of the ideas, sketches, social media posts, private conversations, videos and emails; all of that, since the Roman Empire, thanks to the famous Google Odyssey, the world largest database, looking for that new idea for a summer shirt, which needs to click with the community identifying themselves with the famous Berlin Alpha wave, but with the twist needed to appeal to the tribe in zip-code 10115, close to the old Wall. The new design is created instantly by AI, and immediately airdropped to the first 1,000, the lucky ones to win the lottery, out of those who signed up to the brand workshop, with a tap of the fingers of their avatars. They also receive a fraction of a bitcoin for their ambassadorship. If they generate enough interactions, or ‘cool’ buzz, on Roblox, only ten shirts will be produced, and shipped to door, to the best performing ones. The brand designer did not manually draw anything yet, and her job is rather to interact with her fans digitally. Once ‘a’ design is called for production, and distributed in a limited-edition physical drop, plus created en masse digitally, intellectual property rights and revenues are distributed to fans and shareholders instantly, via blockchain, with the most exact calculations processed by quantum computers operating on people’s glasses, wearables or chips installed on their necks. Welcome to the future of fashion.
We are not creative
AI will kill creativity and property rights. This is the most common adage, which I hear repeatedly. Guess what? We are not creative, as adults, and most of the stuff that we write online should not be protected, including this article. In his latest work, ‘The Cost of Dull’, Adam Morgan shows how an ad featuring paint drying up performs much better than 85% of all ads out there. The same would apply for a video of cows eating grass. Morgan tested his hypotheses, and recently presented his insights at the world-known Cannes Festival of Advertising, where the most creative people on the planet gather for a week to talk about creativity, and of course drink rosé.
The issue is gifted creators are not getting paid. Most interactions on social media are passive (liking stuff), and content tends to be non-original (reposts or retweets). Those who ‘create’ something new are not getting enough money. According to the Wall Street Journal, 48% of creator-earners made $15,000 or less last year, while just 13% of them made $100,000 or more.
The ability of AI to multiply creative experimentation will give us tools to boost our chances to engage with an audience, if we have something to say (prompt). What we really need is a system that allows us to track process and output of AI, while distributing incentives across the food chain. We have the tech stack now: it’s called blockchain and AI.
Will AI disrupt some professions? Yes. Will AI change the way we create? Yes. Will AI change the way we interact digitally? Yes. So, if I run a fashion house, what do I do? Or, better, who am I going to be as a manager, a creator or a business leader?
Who are thou?
I believe the goal for any business, and society at large, when their powers are augmented by AI and other exponential technologies like blockchain, is threefold:
- Seek knowledge, like we did since the Enlightenment era, to solve people’s problems, always simply and efficiently, and sometimes with a sense of inspiration and delight, if we think of our VIPs and super-fans.
- Create social capital, namely make sure that new knowledge and its benefits are shared as widely as possible, rewarding actions, contributions, ambassadorships, in line with people’s time and willingness to dance with a brand, a business and their network of family, friends and contacts.
- Always challenge the status quo, at least digitally (simulate futures), as technological advances will make any business and profession fragile; and technology will help us do that as well.
Keep running data
Technology will make us more creative, better suited to identify and fairly reward friends and supporters, and better able to evolve what we do. What will the future look like? Ask AI, but ask the right questions, and check the answers, if you have a vision of what the world could know, share and dream. If you are short of ideas, keep asking. You will not find a theory of everything by 2030. It’s enough to chase new knowledge, broad access to it, and the urgency to change it all, over and over again.
